School's In - Drive Safely

As summer comes to a close, Dallas schoolchildren will be heading back to class. This means that your morning commute and your evening return home will be a different environment entirely for driving. It's a good time of the year to reflect upon what you need to do to keep children safe while you are out there trying to get to and from where you're going.

Buses.

Whenever you're behind a school bus, you're likely to get frustrated. It's only natural: you know it's going be stopping at very short intervals and they're very difficult to get around, depending upon what road you happen to be on. If you need to pass a bus, make sure you do it intelligently. First, get back far enough so you can see a little bit down the lane alongside the bus. If the bus driver turns on the flashing red lights and puts out the stop sign, you have to wait to make your pass. It's illegal to pass a bus that's in the process of stopping. The stop sign on a bus carries the same authority as a stop sign on the road.

School zones.

15 miles per hour is a slow pace and, if you happen to be on your way to work, a frustrating speed limit. Remember, however, that school zones have this ultra-slow speed limit for a reason. Be sure that you slow down to the correct speed limit whenever you are in an area where children are getting into cars, out of cars or on buses. Most school zones have flashing yellow lights and, even if you don't see children around, you're required to slow down to the posted speed when those lights are flashing.

Pedestrians.

Watch out for children crossing the road before and after school. Remember that children are quite a bit more impulsive than adults and that they may dart out in front of you or even reverse direction and go back out into the road when you think they've already crossed. Obey the speed limit and, when children are in the crosswalks, slow down a little bit more to keep them safe.
A car wreck lawyer may be able to help you if your child has been injured by a negligent driver. Aside from any criminal laws they may have broken, an auto accident lawyer in Dallas may be able to take them to civil court to seek damages for your child's injuries.